The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2014, and October 31, 2015 (see FAQ for exceptions), are automatically nominated for the 2015 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on October 15, 2015, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

KIRKUS REVIEW

A giant sequoia experiences the world around “him” in Johnston’s
romantic, image-laden, anthropomorphic rendering of the life experiences of the
largest tree on the planet.

This sequoia “feels,” “waits,” “counts,” “gazes,” “tells”—all
verbs attributed to Sequoiadendron giganteum. The author describes large and small
events that occur: Birds and beasts visit and shelter, weather changes, forest
fires rage, seasons turn. It is all very poetic and expresses the author’s
subjective understanding of the sequoia. Fortunately, facts about the great
trees are nicely summarized in endnotes. Minor’s gouache watercolors convey the
action and present a more realistic picture of the theme. He shows the tree, the
changing seasons, the sky, the animals and birds that live in the tree’s branches,
roots, environs. Occasionally he demands a 90-degree turn of the book, so
readers can see a (relatively) tiny bear dwarfed by the towering tree. His
paintings give the words life, although the animals are not identified: Is that
a ground squirrel or a chipmunk? a crow or a raven? and what species is the owl
flying in the moonlight? Perhaps it does not matter, since this is
impressionistic free verse, lines often breaking with no apparent poetic need,
rather than natural history.

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